Sunday, June 25, 2017

How to Get Great Results In Your Garden – 9 Essential Tools


Gardening is about creating joy and this quote from Alfred Austin (an English Poet) sums it up quite well.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.”


This is all very true but not everyone wants to spend every hour of the day maintaining their garden.
Most of us are time poor and would rather spend the minimum time possible when it comes to preparing the ground for planting, weeding, pruning and other garden maintenance.
The Right Tools
·         For the best results you should ensure that you have robust, quality, gardening tools, which are fit for purpose and they will help to make gardening so much more enjoyable. With the right, essential tools for your garden - life can be so much easier. The key phrase here is “The Right Essential Tools for your Garden” because depending on what type of garden you have will dictate to a certain extent if a particular tool is an essential tool for you. This will include factors like size of the garden, types of plants in there, is there a lawn to consider? or is it low maintenance?
Example: There would be little need for a wheel barrow in a small 3m x 3m, low maintenance garden.
Spend Less Time in Your Garden
·         This also means ultimately you can spend more time relaxing in the garden instead of tending to it
 
1.   THE GARDEN HOE

Why Use a Hoe? – It’s a versatile tool, used to loosen and break up the soil, shaping soil (like forming beds), removing weeds and aerating the soil.

The Dutch Hoe
The most commonly used hoe in the UK is probably the Dutch hoe.
Each side has a sharp blade which means you can cut backwards or forwards (i.e. a pull or push action) cutting the weeds roots just below the surface of the soil.

A Draw Hoe
Tends to have a wider downward facing blade and should be used in a slicing or chopping action on harder soils.


2. SECATEURS

Why Use Secateurs? - They are used for pruning shrubs and trees, cutting stems up to an inch but they can also be used for taking cuttings.
Two Types

Anvil Secateurs – This is where one of the blades is sharpened and this then cuts downwards onto a flat block, a bit like the cutting action onto a chopping board (the anvil).
Can be used for cutting back dead wood as they tend to crush softer plants instead of providing a clean cut.

Bypass Secateurs - This is where the 2 blades pass each other and make a good clean cut. It works in a similar way to a pair of scissors.
Great for cutting shoots down and in general they are very versatile
 
If you’re budget dictates that you’re looking to buy one or the other we recommend the bypass secateurs for their versatility around your garden.
 
They are also essential for fruit trees, in order for them to produce plenty of high quality fruit, for the best results use a sharp pair of secateurs. If you don’t have the time then we recommend that you entrust this to a local professional gardening company.

 
3. SPADE

Why Use A Spade? - They are designed for digging, whether this is in your garden or allotment, breaking up big clumps of soil, loosening it, also edging lawns& bedding.
Try to buy a good quality spade that is comfortable to use and if you’re a taller person, you need to get one with a longer handle.

4. GARDEN FORK

Why Use A Garden Fork? - They are used for digging, as well as loosening, aerating, great for removing weeds with shallow roots and cause less damage to worms than spades.
A good garden fork helps to make life easier in your garden by reducing the effort required to work the soil, which has to be good news.
 
5. RAKE
 
Why Use a Rake? – Great for levelling soil, removing debris and preparing bedding.
 
A Lawn Rake
I decided to also mention the lawn rake as they are incredibly important because they have flexible teeth and will remove grass clippings, leaves and moss.

 
6. WATERING CAN & GARDEN HOSE REELS
 
Why Use a Watering Can? – These are used to water plants by hand and ensure they have sufficient water, in metal or plastic versions.
Why Use a Garden Hose Reel? – It can quickly do so much more, including watering plants and lawns in any sized gardens. Once you’ve finished with them (if it’s the type that’s fixed to the wall) you simply turn off the water and reel it back in
There’s even greater flexibility when using an array of attachments with your garden hose reel like: Spray guns, sprinklers and other attachments that allow you to clean the patio, garden furniture or the car.
 
 
7. GARDENING GLOVES
 
Why Use Gardening Gloves? – They can protect you from a dip in temperature, Cuts &scratches, chemicals and sharp objects like glass and needles.
There are gloves you can buy that will give you protection from colder conditions.
Other types of gardening gloves are more robust to protect you from getting cut by roses or if you’re out on the allotment from sharp objects. 
The ones shown above are the exact gloves that I wear to provide such protection.
There are also multi-purpose gloves you can buy that will give protection from most of the above and be cheaper than buying 3 different types of glove.
 


 
8. LAWNMOWER
 
What Type of Lawnmower Should I Use? – The right lawnmower for you will be dictated by:
·         Lawn size

·         Is it on a slope?

·         Are you near a power supply?

·         Would you prefer Greener Solutions?

·         Are you an older or disabled person?
 
Lawnmower types include: cordless – cylinder – electric – hover – petrol – push or walk behind – ride on - rotary & self-propelled



9. WHEELBARROW
 
Why Use a wheelbarrow? – Makes transporting garden materials easier and quicker meaning you’ll spend less time in your garden.
They are used for carrying items from one location in your garden or allotment to another including: tools, plants, garden waste & heavy loads.

 


Final Thoughts


We all want to be proud of our gardens and with the little free time we have, ideally we want to spend some of that time relaxing or entertaining in the garden. You may also want to use some of that time doing what you need to do in order to have a great garden. In the end it is a balancing act between how much time you want to spend maintaining your garden& how much time you want to be relaxing in it.
Therefore using the right essential tools for a particular job and ensuring that they are of good quality and well maintained will make life easier for you
 
·         Spend Less Time Maintaining Your Garden – You’ll spend less time working in your garden also more time relaxing and appreciating it. These are the benefits of using robust tools that are fit for purpose for dealing with most gardening tasks
·         Protecting Nature – Using a garden fork to dig the soil is not only easier but also there is less damage done to worms than using a spade
·         Less Damage to Plants – Using bypass secateurs to cut softer plants ensures a cleaner cut instead of unnecessary damage to fragile plants or shoots
·         Less Back and Joint problems -  If you’re using the right tools and the right lawnmowers they will take some of the strain, instead of your body
·         Greater Motivation – A critically important factor because if you enjoy venturing into your garden& using those essential tools in the right way they will drive great progress in your garden. This in turn will have a positive knock on effect because you’ll want to achieve more
·         Less Stress - Before you know it you’ll start to love making a difference, realise how incredibly therapeutic and de-stressing gardening can be
 
Image References
Attribution
The Garden Hoe: By The Banner (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Common
Lawn Rake: By AlbertCahalan (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Lawnmower: From the product range 2016, ATCO catalogue
 
Video Reference
Attribution
Title: Practical Garden Tools
Eastward Missions, Standard You Tube License
 

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Monday, March 14, 2016

How to Use the Power of Natural Pest Control in Your Garden

 

If you’re serious about wanting to bring excitement and vitality to your garden by encouraging wildlife, you need to stop using pesticides.
They’re damaging and counterproductive to wildlife and to the environment also more and more insects are building up tolerances towards pesticides.
There are plenty of natural alternatives that use the power of nature to keep our gardens in order.
We’ll be outlining how you can take control of your garden even by making the smallest changes.
This will help you to produce a haven for beneficial wildlife, insects, and plants also be kinder to our environment, which we all share.
 
Enlist the Power of Beneficial Insects
 
1.
Ladybirds, also known as Ladybugs & Ladybeetles


Ladybirds will feast on your aphids, mites and scale insects. The best ways to attract them are by sheltered conditions, ground cover, foliage and organic matter.
Flowers that will attract them include: Angelica, Calendula, Chives, Dill & Fennel
 
 
2.
Green Lacewings


  
Green Lacewings – Their scientific name is Chrysopa perla, are another useful natural pest control option. They eat aphids, caterpillars, small beetles and leaf hoppers.
They are attracted by planting flowers from the daisy family, Tansy or Yarrow
 
3.
Spiders

 
 A European Garden Spider
Spiders are very beneficial in your garden and feed on aphids, caterpillars, flies, grass hoppers and cucumber beetles.
Encourage spiders by planting tall plants so they can construct their webs, flowers, also creating a small area of your garden that is covered in mulch is a good place for spiders to lay their eggs.
 
4.
Hedgehogs
 
 
Hedgehogs are known as the gardener’s friend for good reason because they love to eat snails, slugs and other pests that cause havoc in our gardens. They also root through hedging and undergrowth to find worms, centipedes, mice and frogs.
To encourage hedgehogs you can build hedgehog houses but they are very resourceful and will nest under piles of wood, sheds or mounds of leaves.
 
5.
Frogs

European fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina)
Frogs and toads eat slugs, snails, spiders and millepedes – the garden pond is an ideal environment for them and aquatic plants.
 
6.
Mulches
File:Fresh.mulch.jpg
 
Spring daffodils in fresh shredded wood mulch
Mulches provide a barrier between your plants and the soil that may contain pests or disease pores. They also help to control weeds and retain soil moisture.
 
 
Companion Planting
This is the clever use of plants that have natural abilities to help in the growth of other plants by being a deterrent to pests.
 
7.
Basil

 
Incredible Timelapse Footage of basil growth
Grows well with tomatoes therefore if you create a basil border around your tomatoes they will find it easier to fight off disease because aphids, white fly, fruit fly and house fly can’t stand it.
 
8.
Chamomile

A great companion for onions, cabbage and cucumbers as it attracts beneficial insects.
Very Useful Information
Chamomile also has the following very desirable affects:
·         Known as the plant doctor as it encourages other plants to increase their essential oils, therefore in turn often smell and taste stronger
·         Can revive ailing plants when planted near them
·         Can help to activate the composting process when added to your compost heap
 
9.
Rosemary
Grows well with beans, cabbage, carrots and sage as it deters bean beetles, cabbage moth and carrot fly. It works well generally as an insect repellent.
 
10.
Sunflowers

Sunflowers grow well with beans, cucumbers and vining plants as they help to deal with aphids. They also attract bees and butterflies to your garden as well as providing the most incredible colour and vitality to your garden.
Very Useful Information
Sunflowers are great for encouraging children to play an active part in the garden. It offers them the opportunity to nurture, from planting the seeds to watching their on-going development through to a fully formed sunflower.
 
11.
Prevention
File:Horizons.gif
·       Soils – Create healthy organic soils, which in turn will produce strong healthy plants and ensure they are watered well.
·       Planting - try to only plant healthy plants in order to avoid trouble in the form of diseases or pests.
·       Remove weak plants or those infected by disease to avoid them affecting other plants.
·      Disinfect those particular tools that have come into contact with infected plants
·       Clean and tidy your garden and greenhouse regularly and don't leave rubbish lying around

Final Thoughts
Our gardens are becoming more important as our lives are increasingly busy. They are a place where we can choose to make a really big statement or keep it very simple. Ultimately it’s where most of us choose to spend time relaxing or entertaining our family and friends. 

Choosing to harness the power of natural pest control creates a series of positive outcomes that can’t be ignored:

·         You save money because after initial investment, costs are minimal as you’re not shelling out on slug pellets and pesticides

·         Gives you the opportunity to do your bit for the environment

·         Transforms your garden into a more exciting, vibrant and healthier place

·         From a child's point of view making such changes to your garden could turn it into an adventure playground where they were more likely to interact

·         You’ll feel an incredible sense of achievement as your garden starts to change and take shape

·         Overall you’re developing a garden that is starting to function as nature intended and the food chain remains in place
Let me know about your experiences regarding natural pest control - what worked for you or do you have any other comments or feedback?
Don’t worry if you’re too busy to implement this in your garden, if you’re in a position to do so employ a Trusted, local, professional gardening company. Preferably one that can deliver great customer service & has great customer reviews
 
Article References
How to Attract Frogs
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki that is building the world's largest and highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Attract Frogs Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.
 
Organic garden pest control
 
Image References
 
Author: By Malcolm Wilson (Own work)   Description: An image of a ladybug
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
 
Author: Gnissa (Own work)   Description: Araneus diadematus (European garden spider), San Jose, California
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Author: Marek Szczepanek      Description: Bombina bombina
License: "GNU Free Documentation License" on Wikipedia for an encyclopedia article about the license. See Commons:Licensing for more information on licensing issues here on Wikimedia Commons.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
 
Author: Red58bill (Own work)      Description: Spring daffodils in fresh shredded wood mulch
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
 
Author: H. Zell      Description: Chamaemelum Nobile, Asteraceae, Roman Camomile, Chamomile, Garden Camomile
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
 
Author: By Petar43 (Own work)       Description: Rosmarinus officinalis
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
 
Author: Jon Sullivan      Description: A sunflower
 
Author: By Wilsonbiggs
Description: The soil profile with 5 horizons, edited and improved.
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
 
Video References
 
Author: By Pristurus (Own work)
Description: Green Lacewing (Chrysopa perla) filmed at the Wollenberg, Hesse, Germany.
 
Author: The Wildlife Garden Project       Description: How to Help Hedgehogs in your garden
 
Author: http://www.openfootage.net/      Description: Timelapse-Basil-growing
License: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Austria license.

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